George Osborne’s £805m vow to peg council tax again

Council tax will be frozen next year in a move that will cost the government £805million,
George Osborne is set to announce.

George Osborne is set to make the announcement at the Conservative Party’s annual conference (Picture: Reuters)

The freeze, which is a cut in real terms when inflation is taken into account, will save the average family a further £72 in 2012 on top of the £72 saved this year.

âI wanted to help families and pensioners with the daily cost of living,â Mr Osborne will say on Monday.

In a repeat of this year, councils will be allowed to apply for a 2.5 per cent increase in state funding.

Freezing council tax for two years was a Conservative pledge but not a coalition commitment.

While the plan â funded by budget cuts to government departments â will be popular among council tax payers, critics are expected to round on its timing as Britainâs deficit balloons.

It comes after communities secretary Eric Pickles claimed town halls would be shamed into bringing back weekly bin collections.

Mr Pickles has set up a £250million fund which councils can use to restore weekly rather than fortnightly collections.

Foreign secretary William Hague warned activists that the coalition has an âunwaveringâ commitment to its deficit reduction strategy after shadow chancellor Ed Balls declared last week that cuts should be spread over ten years.

He said: âThe solution to excessive borrowing and debt cannot be more borrowing and debt â and now we have a government that knows it. âWe have a prime minister who provides strong leadership and a chancellor who provides the honest truth. We have a coalition that came together in the national interest rather than ministers who clung onto their party interest.â